SmallBlockFloyd

Hi guys, i am just curious how many of you all have done a carbed to EFI conversion(1971 mustang). I am thinkin about doing an EFI conversion on my 351c, for the tunability&mileage gains. I was mainly curious with how you all routed your fuel return line. I was thinking about just using a high pressure line from the fuel return on the FPR, and run it back to the tank, add a nipple on the top of the tank, and just let it pour back into the tank by itself.

I just wanted to hear how everyone else did it, and any info, tips or what not to do'es. Did you use an intank fuel pump, or anexternal inline pump? Thanks guys, I appreciate the help.

rmodel65

check out jamesw pagehes got the simple fuel setup. you will need to get a 351w efi dist and 5.0 mass air computer setup and you can get an intake and power elbow etc from coast high performance.

andrewmp6

Heres jamesw site http://www.midnightdsigns.com/james/

68EFIvert

Will a 351w dizzy fit a 351c? You may be looking at a custom setup because I don't think the windsor based kits will work for his engine. If it is just a fuel line routing questions then James W's site is a great source of info.

Norm Peterson

Different car, but I"ve been through it. I added the high pressure supply line to the fuel rails but used the OE carb hard steel supply line for the return. Rather than plumb it directly back into the tank, I tapped it into the filler pipe below the unleaded-only restriction (1979 car).

There is a little more to getting a successful fuel delivery system when you"re starting with a carbed tank and running an external EFI pump. EFI does not have anything comparable to the carburetor fuel bowl(s), and can easily hiccup/stumble/run rough/quit if the high pressure pump loses suction even briefly.

There isn"t much baffling in older fuel tanks, so slosh away from the fuel pickup under acceleration/braking/cornering needs to be addressed (note that this effect still matters even if you use a submerged EFI pump installation).

Anyway, I used a low pressure Holley pump and a regulator to feed an intermediate tank that holds a bit more than a quart and whose level is controlled by a Holley float bowl. This intermediate tank is relatively deep but narrow, and the EFI HP pump draws from that. Fuel slosh becomes a non-issue as long as the LP pump can do better than just keep up with the HP pump. I did get a fuel delivery stumble once - during a long sweeper toward the end of an autocrossrun when I let the fuel level get down to about 3 gallons in a flattish 18 gallon tank (fuel apparently sloshed away from the LP pump pickup for a long enough time that the HP pump managed to empty the intermediate tank). In more normal driving, I can drain the main tank down to about 1 gallon.

You should probably use an inertia switch to shut off the fuel pump(s) so that they do not continue to pump fuel out of a ruptured line should the car be involved in an accident.


Norm

SmallBlockFloyd

The 351w efi distr does not work. I need to get a 460 TFI distr, and change the gear to a 351c gear. it fits just fine then. I was thinking about just dropping the tank, putting two new lines on it, one replacin the bent steel fuel line, and another to the top of the tank, to be a simple return. There should be enough pressure in the return line from the rails, to push the fuel up the line, allowing it to 'dribble/pour' back into the tank. I hadn't considered the baffles. I need to drop the tank, and clean it out anyways. It's old enough to merrit it. I may just put in an aeromotive baffled sump, and use that for feed/return aswell. If I went with a baffled sump, i don't imagine I would need a smaller supply pump intake, but i don't know.

If so, I may just get a cell, and strap that up underneath the car instead. I am mostly concerned with fuel line supply, along with injectors. I don't know what # i should run. I know the 5.0 runs on 19#'s, but I am running a 351c. I was thinking 24-30# injectors, which ever i could get the easiest. The next issue is, what angle should i place them at? I was giong to use an aluminum single plane intake, and then weld up a 'plenum' with a 65-75mm TB(again pending on avail/price). Does anyone have a recommended angle? Most injectors aim towards the valves, for cold start ability, and so forth so on. I plan on running megasquirt, which the way i understand is I will not be required to run a MAF, since it has all sorts of programming, along with an internal MAP sensor. So, I will just be running like IAC/IAT/CLT/TPS/o2 sensors.

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it guys.

rmodel65

The best option is to get a distributor from an EFI 460. This drops right in. The second best option is to use the distributor from an EFI 351W and change the gear to a 351C gear.

http://www.detomaso.nu/~thomast/efi/ you can do the swap with factory mass air parts the fuel lines are the biggest problems, then the intake in this link they used a 351w intake and modified it slightly

SmallBlockFloyd

Yeah, I am not using a 351w intake. I am going to use a single plane carbed intake, and just tap it, then weld in injector bungs. it fits, flows almost as well, cheaper than buying efi intakes, and modifying them, then end up having seating issues with it mating to the heads/block. Just my opinion. The fuel lines are the only trouble i have atm. And I have it almost figured all out. now comes the paying for it :-p.

rmodel65

yeah i dont know how much this runs but heres a link thye have 351c intakes too http://www.coasthigh.com/Fuel%20Injection/spyder.htm

Norm Peterson

There's a formula for sizing injectors based on estimates of BSFC, HP, cylinder count, and (usually) an 80% or so duty cycle. But don't go too big, as injectors don't always work very well at very short pulse widths (< 1ms).

Don't worry about having enough pressure to push the bypassed fuel back to the tank. Worry about having large enough return tubing so that you won't get back pressure at the fuel rails when most of the fuel is being bypassed. I think if that happens, you run over-rich because the FPR can't reduce fuel rail pressure that's due to a restriction that is downstream of the FPR.

You'll still want as deep and narrow of a baffled sump as you can safely fit, and unless ALL of your hard driving is in a straight lineor you NEVER let the fuel level drop below some point (that you usually find out the hard way) a rear mounted sump will not be the answer. Consider that the combination of low fuel level plus either braking or cornering would keep fuel from refilling the sump and would run you into the same situation I got that once at auto-X, where the HP EFI pump still momentarily lost its suction.


Norm